Comics

Sometimes it’s hard to be a Dark Lord of the Sith (especially after you’ve murdered most of your friends, choked out your wife, and had your best friend cut off your legs and leave you to burn in a pool of lava… okay, that last one he probably deserved).

I’ve missed the last couple of issues so I’ll admit being a bit confused as to why Batman is bleeding in a cave watching Catwoman and Talia al Ghul swordfight through ruins while Robin and Nightwing sit outside at campfire discussing Bruce’s plans to marry Selina. And what the hell Selina’s old BFF Holly is doing in the middle of it all?

Even if the rationale for such a set-up is lost on me, I’ll admit the story still works. Talia’s motives for fighting the woman who would dare marry her beloved are obvious. Not thinking much of Catwoman at the beginning of the duel, Selina does grudgingly earn a bit of respect by the end by more than holding her own against the daughter of the demon.

The start of the three-part story has several moving pieces including the introduction of another thief to give Usagi and Inspector Ishida trouble, an unknown street urchin keenly eyeing the investigation, and rumblings inside the Black Goblin Gang which are likely to cause trouble for everyone in the town. With Usagi getting himself in over his head as the comic comes to a close, I’ll be curious to see where the story takes him. Once he regains consciousness, that is.

Atomic Robo versus… the Homeowners Association? The first issue of the latest volume of Atomic Robo sees our robotic scientist/adventurer setting out for greener pastures by beginning the construction of the new Tesladyne Institute in the badlands of New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto desert. It seems that even those who have save the Earth aren’t immune to bureaucratic red tape. Introduced to the facility and various characters through they eyes of the returning Foley, we witness the frustration of of several different Tesladyne workers, including Robo himself, at the lack of progress to get the new facility up and running. Despite having only two neighbors, Robo is dragged into a homeowners meeting with Sir Richard Branson who cites enough Tesladyne infractions to halt all “progress” on the site. Poor Robo. Where’s a psychotic dinosaur to hit when you need one?